1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mounting type Bluetooth unit, and more particularly to an improved configuration of a Bluetooth device that communicates with a mobile communication device with various kinds of voice or audio bases, such as a portable terminal that is represented by a portable phone, a PDA, or the like, an audio appliance such as MP3 or the like, or a voice or audio device based on Bluetooth communication.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As generally known in the art, a device, which is in cooperation with a mobile communication device represented by a portable phone and which is based on Bluetooth communication, has recently been manufactured and widely used in diverse forms due to the simplicity and call reliability of wireless systems.
In particular, since a Bluetooth communication system can replace a wireless or FM transmitting type hands-free function in the related art, most recent portable phones basically install communication functions according to the Bluetooth rules, and various types of Bluetooth devices pairing with portable phones or audio devices such as MP3 have been developed with their use further extended.
As a representative example of a Bluetooth unit that is a typical Bluetooth device, a headset Bluetooth-pairing with a mobile communication device such as a portable phone is general, and the headset is a portable transmission/reception unit in the form of an earphone or a headphone.
However, with the spread of Bluetooth device at low cost and with the widespread use of vehicles, a Bluetooth unit has been highlighted as a Bluetooth device for use in a vehicle.
A conventional headset type Bluetooth unit is not preferable to be used in a vehicle due to the feeling of awkwardness and the physical burden caused by long-time wearing. As a unit having an independent casing mounted with a speaker rather than a headset or an earphone, a mounting type Bluetooth unit that is fixedly mounted in the interior of the vehicle has been widely used.
In particular, a mounting type Bluetooth unit, which is fixedly put on a sun visor or a mirror visor installed on an upper part above a head portion of a driver or which is mounted on a window glass in front of a driver by an auxiliary mechanical means such as a mounting arm or the like, is mounted on a position in which driver's voice can mostly be received, and thus can be conveniently used on a long-distance journey and so on. This mounting type Bluetooth unit has been widely spread due to its convenience in a country, such as America, in which a traveling distance is relatively long.
For example, in America, a user may use a mounting type Bluetooth unit Bluetooth-pairing with a portable phone in a vehicle during driving the vehicle, and when the user gets out of the vehicle and moves or works, the user can make a call or listen to music using the portable phone itself or a headset or an earphone Bluetooth-pairing with the portable phone.
In most American houses, garages and interior spaces are adjacently arranged with some partitions. When the driver returns home and parks his/her vehicle, the driver may get out of the vehicle without turning off the mounting type Bluetooth unit that is driven by a rechargable battery or may come into the interior space without canceling the Bluetooth connection (connecting state). In this case, the mounting type Bluetooth unit may still be in a Bluetooth connection state with the user's portable phone in the interior space since the typical Bluetooth device has a reaching distance of 10 m or more.
In this case, even if the user intends to receive the call through the portable phone, the user cannot receive the call since the portable phone is still in a Bluetooth connection state with the Bluetooth unit in the vehicle.
Further, since the standby state due to the Bluetooth connection state is continuously kept with continuous power consumption of the battery, the problem that the battery is rapidly discharged occurs.
This problem may frequently occur since most users are liable to forget or to think it too much trouble to turn off the Bluetooth unit mounted on the sun visor.
In order to solve this problem, a power line may be drawn from the Bluetooth unit mounted on the sun visor to a cigar-jack to continuously charge the battery during driving. However, this configuration is difficult to be adopted since its installation is complicated, and this may also cause a rapid discharge of the battery when the vehicle is in an engine-off state.
Recently, with the improvement of the performance of the battery, long-time use of the battery becomes possible through a single charging of the battery. However, even in the Bluetooth connection state, the rapid discharging of the battery is unavoidable, and considering that it is difficult to separate and charge the mounted Bluetooth unit, the above-described problem may cause a big stumbling block in spreading the mounting type Bluetooth unit for use in a vehicle.
Conventional Bluetooth units, and particularly, headset type Bluetooth units have diverse means for solving the rapid battery discharging problem.
For example, in a prior patent application filed by the inventor of the present invention, a mechanical construction in which the power is turned on by an operation button in a specified position using a hall switch has been proposed. However, this construction is suitable to a headset type Bluetooth device, but it is difficult to use this construction in the Bluetooth unit mounted in the interior of the vehicle, and user's intentional switch manipulation is still required in this construction.
Since a portable Bluetooth unit such as a headset is carried by a user, the discharge of the power can be easily prevented by operating a specified tool. However, in the case of the Bluetooth unit mounted in the interior of the vehicle, most drivers may forget this, and thus the mounting type Bluetooth unit cannot become a fool-proof configuration which requires minimum operation from the user.